The only incumbent to show up was Zepora Roberts. Ms. Miles informed us that she and Zepora are active members of the same church, which was nice to know up front. The other participants were Nancy Jester and Bobbe Gillis (District 1), Dr. Kirk Nooks (District 5), Donna Edler, Willie Mosely and Zepora Roberts (District 7) and Ella Smith (District 9).
Basically, Nancy Jester and Dr. Kirk Nooks rocked! Donna Edler was a stand-out as well and Ella Smith did a terrific job of honestly answering all of Steen's questions, even after Steen nearly wrapped up the forum without addressing Ella at all. Ella made the point that she is a teacher and has always been in education, either as a student or teacher. She honestly spoke of her weakness in math, but stated that she would consult people with strong math skills to help her navigate the massive school budget (her husband, an Emory math major was one of her consultants). I know Ella as she has been a contributor to this blog since early on, researching DCSS spending with Kim Gokce (click here to read their report). Ella has a very good heart for children and a knowledge of what really works in the classroom. What she lacks in math skills, she more than makes up for in a good internal moral compass and an ability to make decisions using the criteria of what is best for children.
But Nancy! She showed up with laminated charts! She clued us in to the fact that since the inception of NCLB, we have 'risen' from 14% of schools not making AYP to 44% of schools not making AYP! (And to think that Dr. Lewis continued to give Ms. Audria Berry, the director of student improvement, substantial raises!) Nancy is a money whiz, having undergrad and graduate degrees in finance and she can drill down to the core basics with a laser-like focus. We really need a brain like Nancy's on the board, IMO.
That said, Bobbi Gillis is quite a nice lady, but she didn't have very detailed answers other than to say that we need to educate the children and run the school system like a corporation. I didn't get a sense that she had a well-formed platform yet. I would say the same for Willie Mosely. Very nice man, but not exactly what we need right now. He was very rigid about things like discipline (zero tolerance) and parental involvement in the classroom, but not very well-versed in school operations. He kept saying that students need to watch, listen and learn.
Zepora, in all of her denial of current events, rested on her past laurels, stating that she has been very involved in schools since the beginnings of desegregation and the Supreme Court ruling for DeKalb that hog-tied the system for over 25 years. She actually said we need to "keep the current proven leadership - experience does count!" I kid you not - she said that. I will grant her that perhaps her kind of leadership was valuable during the segregation days, but we are ten years into a new millennium and to refer to the current board as "effective leadership" is astoundingly disengaged.
But back to Dr. Nooks - impressive! District 5 voters are very lucky to have him running for their district seat. He was detailed, visionary, articulate and confident but grounded. He wanted to find out exactly how Cobb managed to spend $100 million more in the classroom than DeKalb, even though they have fewer students. He advocated for a transparent and inclusive search for a new superintendent, better communication with the community and better technology in the classroom. He wanted to look at charters to see what is working for them and how we might replicate those actions to begin removing barriers for regular public schools. He said we need to put the right people, in the right seats, on the right bus, at the right time, making the right decisions. I agree!
And Donna Edler embellished this idea by stating that DeKalb can serve as an example of how to turn around a failing urban school district. Edler was very poised, and came across as quite smart - a CPA, she is well-versed in finance. She made a very important point when asked about reducing the size of the board - she said that it doesn't matter how many members there are, as long as they have the proper tenor and bring a professional attitude. She reiterated that we have the opportunity to make a big change - voters, please do it!
I will close with a quote from one of our regular contributors:
Regardless if you support old blood or new on the board, to win a seat takes money. Candidates need to reach out and share their views with voters who actually show up at the polls (and may not be following this or any other school related blog).
It will be interesting to see the September 30 required Campaign Disclosure Reports. At this point neither the incumbents nor their challengers have received much funding. If you're serious about supporting the DeKalb County public school system, you need to step up soon with your checkbook.
Cynical? Yes!
===
To find out more on the candidates, click on the ballot box on the right side panel of the home page.
To read about the eduKALB forum hosted last week in South DeKalb, click here.
143 comments:
14% to 44% NOT making AYP since the NCLB Act began?
Audria Berry should be looking for work tomorrow. If Tyson does not ask for her resignation by the end of the week, it will be more of the same. Clew obviously liked Berry, to keep giving her raises as more schools failed.
If this is not grounds enough to fire her than why do we even have the accountability of NCLB? Plus, the trips she took with CLew should also not help her retain her job at DCSS.
Great Job on the report. I would have been there but I had to work. Chamblee Middle also had a meeting tonight, the principal, Ms. Jackson, had stats and figures regarding the schools successes and attendance numbers. I'm looking to get her presentation and will happy to share it here once I get it.
Berry has only had the job for a few years, but most of the central office top people have been around forever. It is clear that improving student achievement hasn't been much of a priority.
DeKalb citizens as a whole haven't demanded very much, except transfers, so it has been easy for the system officials to get away with this neglect. Shame.
There are 5000+ students in Dunwoody alone and attendance was dismal? I think that speaks disappointing volumes.
To all you number crunchers: Making AYP this year for the high schools will be almost impossible- the juniors will take a new math test AND the AYP bar is higher. We could be at 100% that don't make AYP. The problem is more with NCLB than with what the schools are doing. By 2014 all students -ESOL, Special Ed, ALL students have to pass these tests. Its ridiculous.
I could not make the forum last night as Dunwoody Child had an activity. So sad, I could have met Cere in person. I am surprised that with the 2 forums sponsored by eduKalb, so few incumbents were present.
Does anyone know if all the incumbents took part in the eduKalb interview process?
I encourage everyone to go to the edukalb website and read the Q and As they did with the candidates. Many did not respond (apparently) but many did and they are telling. Redovian's in particular is hilarious.
How sad to hear that Jim redovian did not attend this session to address the questions of the community he serves. That says a lot
I’m surprised Mr. Redovian didn’t show. He sent Pam Tallmadge but they wouldn’t let her speak in his place. I'm told that he has skipped all of the forums so far except maybe one... I think the incumbents are afraid to have to answer questions from the public. Zepora knew that Steen Miles would protect her (and she did - she made Donna Edler stop talking when she mentioned that we need a board with respectable public behavior - people who don't argue and fuss and threaten reporters.)
It speaks volumes that in an area with 5000+ public school students, there were so few people there.
I couldn't go but my neighbor did, she said they read a statement that Redovian was away on a business trip that he couldn't change. As we have mentioned here before, only Redovian, Cunningham and Bowen hold real jobs.
Steen Miles wrote an article about the infamous "Zepora Roberts" outburst against WGCL reporter, saying that the reporter was out of line.
Anon 6:43 I am tired of excuses of why schools aren't making AYP. Scores have been slipping for some time now, and little is being done to get the scores up. It's obvious we have a problem, but it continues to be ignored.
It's about time that administrators are put under the same pressure as teachers. Pressure should be on all to raise the bar or you don't have a job.
Many in Special Ed and ESOL could have higher scores if teachers were able to give these students the grades that they earn instead of having to give them a 71, even when little to no work has been completed by them.
Also many special ed children are not getting help in their area of need. Instead the amount of work is lowered and modification after modification is made, instead of treating the real issues and helping the children over come and understand how to deal with their problems.
When I moved to DeKalb the motto was "No Excuses" and excuses is all that I hear from DCSS.
Making AYP wouldn't be that hard if our district was focused on educating our children and not buying programs from former DCSS employees, having benchmark tests that actually cover the material taught, teaching math in a systematic way, giving teachers plenty of time to plan lessons, having equipment that works, and the list goes on.
Why, you are correct. Here's the article about Wendy and Zepora by Steen -
Class and no class
Not even in line, showing no class recently are CBS 46 Reporter Wendy Saltzman and DeKalb County School Board member Zepora Roberts. Both women acted in a base and less than professional manner. News reporters are often aggressive and persistent in getting their stories. It is fine to “ask the tough questions.” It is not OK to ambush people, jump in front of them blocking their path or get in their personal space shoving a microphone in their faces.
I vividly recall a colleague from a competing station in Chicago who was beaten and hospitalized after he refused a mobster’s orders to “get that f***ing camera out of here.” The camera was smashed to bits. Saltzman crosses the line and perpetuates the disdain and lack of respect many have for the news media. She is fortunate this is 2010 in Atlanta with government officials and not the ‘70s in Chicago with the likes of “Big Tuna” Accardo’s boys.
While Saltzman crossed the line, Roberts was out of line. Someone gave her some good advice and she rightfully issued a public apology to Saltzman for threatening to slug her. Roberts must rein in the rhetoric and exercise more self control. Public figures are human and perhaps get pushed to the limit, but the fleas come with the dog. Professionals are expected to set a proper example by comporting themselves at all times with the civility and dignity due their stations in life. It grieves me to criticize a member of the fourth estate (press) and a dedicated community servant. But Saltzman and Roberts in this instance, no class!
Not exactly unbiased, IMO, now knowing the church connection between Steen Miles and Zepora Roberts. Personally, I watched all of Wendy's reports and never felt that she ambushed or intimidated Zepora in any way. Zepora's daughters both have been promoted in the last five years into high-paying administrative jobs in the school system. People want to know about this as it certainly has a ring of nepotism.
I think Steen forgets that the fourth estate is responsible for finding out the truth, by asking tough questions. I also think our local media has done a lousy job, until recently, reporting on DCSS.
I'm glad Steen was forthcoming about her relationship with Zepora, however if edukalb wants us to trust them, they should use totally unbiased people to host these events. When you hear about close ties or relationships between hosts and candidates the BS meter tends to get pegged a bit.
I'm disappointed Redovian has not been able to attend these events. I understand about his commitments to his real job, however to me that is a reason not to vote for him. Right now we need people on the BOE focused on the job of remaking DCSS, for the better. There is a little more than one month before the election, I would think a candidate could clear his schedule to run for office, if not please step aside and allow the other candidates a chance at the post.
District 1 needs a leader to represent the needs of our community schools. One would think with the problems DCSS is having, our BOE Rep would be focused on representing his constituents. Redovian most likely thinks he will win or he would have been at the forum, IN HIS OWN COMMUNITY!
I for one hopes he will be surprised November 2nd, as he calls Nancy Jester to congratulate her on her victory. One person and one vote can make a difference!
Redovian's response to the following eduKALB question is interesting...
What do you understand to be the three most important responsibilities of a school board member?
Evaluation of the superintendent, formulation of police, manage and control the budget.
Police is 2nd most important? Yikes!
Formulation of police? What does that mean?
It's time we email Jim for a response to that answer. Since when does a Board of Education worry about law enforcement?
Could he have misunderstood the question? Maybe he heard, what are the three most important responsibilities of a county commissioner?
Good Grief! I'll post Jim's reply, if he sends me one.
I would like to think Jim meant formulation of policy & it is just a typo.
Here is what Nancy Jester thinks are the three most important responsibilities of a BOE member.
* To collaboratively establish, maintain and measure a comprehensive vision for our district’s schools that prioritizes the students of DeKalb county;
* To hire and evaluate the superintendent pursuant to the plans and goals that are articulated within the comprehensive vision for the district; including student achievement, fiscal management, capital development and maintenance and overall staff development and performance and;
* To provide the highest standards of accountability and transparency to the public regarding their investment in public education.
I don't see any typos here!
November 2nd, Vote the incumbents out! Time for a changing of the guard, especially Tyson, Turk, Moseley, Beasley, Mitchell-Mayfield, Thompson, Berry, Ramsey, and the rest!
OH! POLICY! That's different... I was concerned that he wanted to add to our $$ million school system police department that is already far larger than any other metro system.
Has Nancy Jester addressed why she sends her child to school outside of her neighborhood district?
It is clearly a typo, it is suppose to be policy. Like everything else, with edukalb, the answers were just thrown up there.
There was hardly any publicity for this forum and because there was no cosponsor, there wasn't anyone to encourage people to attend.
I believe the motivation of the people behind edukalb was good, the execution has been poor.
Anon 110pm,
Indeed, I have. You can find the two most recent comments I've made on this blog by going back to the post: http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-attendance-data-to-review.html . My comments were made on September 7, 2010 at 9:01am and September 9, 2010 at 10:12pm in response to questions from bloggers.
I am always proud to tell voters my children attend public school in DeKalb County. I believe we need to have a parent with children currently attending public schools in DeKalb serving on the BOE. We are missing this connection right now.
As I indicated in previous comments, our home school is overcrowded and the school we attend is not. It is also a school of choice and many children attend from outside the zone. Furthermore, it is less than 3 miles from our home. We have been very active at our school. I was elected by the parents to a term on our school council and served as the chair. Additionally, I am a founding member of our elementary school's foundation and serve as its president; having been elected by the Board of Directors.
As noted in my comments on previous posts, I am happy to discuss this matter with you personally. Please feel free to call me at 678.360.1148.
--Nancy Jester
Dunwoody High and Dunwoody Elementary students were relocated today due to a water outage in the Dunwoody area. Chamblee Middle School Gym housed the Dunwoody Elementary students of 735. I'm not sure who took the High School kids!
Sounds like fun for transportation today!
Peachtree took the high school students for a short while. Both schools' students who weren't picked up early.
It must have been quite a logistical feat to get all those students moved back and fourth!
I will say, I DO like this answer from Redovian --
What qualities and skillsets do you believe would be most important in seeking a new Superintendent for DeKalb Schools?
A proven administrator capable of running a billion dollar company. A person with a vision and a passion to make it work. A new fresh individual without previous ties to DeKalb.
Hear! Hear! An outsider! Exactly the first quality for a new superintendent.
Don't know where to post this, but you can check/verify state teacher and administrator certification online, with the name only. It is public information:
http://www.gapsc.com/Certification/Lookup/look_up.aspx
Is redovian even trying? I haven't seen the first yard sign for him, and he never seems to be at these events. What sort of job does he have that he travels so frequently. I certainly understand the need to have a full time job but if you are out of town a bunch, maybe you shouldn't run for this sort of key position? Just my opinion. Anyway I am seeing Nancy jester signs around but none for redovian or the other candidate. Just wondering what that's about.
Score do not have to slip for the number of scools not making AYP to increase. In fact, some schools that have shown moderate test score improvements have failed to make AYP. That is because the number of students to pass the tests goes up each year until it gets to 100% passing. At that point most schools in the US will not make AYP. Only in Lake Woebegone are all the children above average.
Anon 1:10,
Please excuse me if I'm reading anything into your question about Ms. Jester's children not attending their home school. The fact that they're not in no way disqualifies her as a suitable candidate. I think, in fact, it shows a recognition of the challenges that our schools face, be it overcrowding, low test scores, incompetent principals or whatever. I'll bet that one of her goals as a board member will be to make all schools desirable and to balance populations fairly. (I'm not trying to be her cheerleader; I don't live in her district and won't be able to vote in that race.)
Nancy:
If I understand you correcty... You are sending you children to Hawthorne because Dresden is overcrowded and you wanted to go to a less crowded school.
May I ask what is going to happen with your children when they reach middle school age? Are you going to send them to Henderson (which is extremely overcrowded now) where they can stay with the friends that they have had all during elementary school or send them to Sequoyah Middle (which is not overcrowded) and your feeder school? Yes that is a answer that needs to be answered.
Also, if you do win (because honestly I do not know who to vote for yet) let's say that I want to move my kids from Montgomery (which is overcrowded) to Hawthrone are you going to let that happen?
Fed up 503,
That question seems unreasonable (the one about where her kids will go to middle school). Don't you think that just like all posters she has a right to evaluate that when the time comes. For all we know her kids may be at kittredge in 6th grade (which is not overcrowded!). If you had asked me three years ago to predict the school my child would be attending today I would not have predicted correctly because circumstances and the needs of individual children change.
Besides we all know that redistricting is going to occur by the next school year so who is to say where any of our kids will be next year or which schools will be overcrowded?
Montgomery is not really overcrowded from what I can tell. They have a few classes in trailers but it looks like that is really due to the fact that they have two pre k classes there ( please correct me if I am wrong). Schools are not required to offer pre k. It is completely optional. Personally I think it is fiscally irresponsible of dcss to incur the expense of trailers in order to house pre k classes. Pre k should be discontinued at dcss except perhaps in under enrolled schools.
My kid attends Montgomery and we are overcrowded. As of a month ago, we had 655 kids, the school is designed, according to Robert Moseley, for 545 students.
The "instructional cottages", which are sitting on the newly renovated quarter of a million dollar rear parking lot, are housing Band, Orchestra, Chorus and , Music classes. The core studies instruction is still in the main facility.
Our 5th grade Band has 49 kids in it! My son plays the trombone, he says, "it's tight" inside the cottage but they make due.
Fed Up, Please call Nancy Jester yourself. She is a great communicator, unlike SOME of our current BOE members. I for one think it will be great to have an actual parent of CURRENT DCSS students, on the BOE!
She is also very schooled on budgets and accounting. She'll be a huge asset to the Board, if elected.
NANCY, HOW CAN I GET A YARD SIGN?
So there are four trailers? How many pre k classes?
At our elementary school kids have art and discovery in trailers. Our school does not offer band or chorus or orchestra (weird that there would be such different offerings).
Anon 532pm,
I'm so glad you'd like a yard sign! Please send me an email to nancyjester@gmail.com or call me at 678.360.1148. Just let me know your address and I will deliver and install a yard sign for you.
I appreciate your support!
--Nancy Jester
When the GA Pre-K program began and some school systems began to offer it, Fulton County made the decision to not house pre-k classes at overcrowded schools. Occasionally, in DeKalb, a school's pre-k class has been housed at a school with room.
I am certain the two pre-k classes at Montgomery are a hold over from when they had plenty of room. Remember, just a few years ago, Montgomery housed all of Vanderlyn's 4th grade, inside their building.
Thank you for your report of candidate forum at Dunwoody City Hall last night. I am happy to have come across as a "nice lady." This "nice lady" cares deeply about the condition of our school system and is furious that things have gone so awry! I understand that our superintendent and COO have been indicted, they stole from our school system, they helped their friends, their presence is still in our system with the many people they helped get jobs! I understand that 44 schools are not making AYP - an alarming and inexcusable number! I understand that my district board member seems very passive and unresponsive to many of his constituents! I understand that redistricting is emminent and that many people within our community will be unhappy and further dissatisfied with our board of education!
The list goes on........., but I am not one to focus on the negative!! There is tremendous work to be done, and I am not afraid to step up and do it. I want to focus on what is positive in our system and spread that. OUR CHILDREN NEED US TO STEP UP FOR THEM NOW!! As a "nice lady" I expect to work as a team with my other board members to make positive changes for our entire county.
Bobbe Gillis
http://bobbegillisdekalbschoolboarddistrict1.blogspot.com
One Fed Up Insider,
You previously asked this same question in a comment to an older blog posting. I responded to this question on September 9, 2010 at 10:12pm. (Here is the link: http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-attendance-data-to-review.html)
Here is a part of my response:
"One Fed Up Insider,
In response to an anonymous comment, I stated that, "I am so glad you pointed out that I actually do have children in DeKalb public schools. I hope that voters will see this as refreshing and a welcome change. My home school is significantly overcrowded. Given the nature of the discussion regarding overcrowded schools one might think that my children attending one that is not overcrowded and is extremely diverse should be honored and encouraged." Out of respect for my children's privacy, I will not discuss their particular situations and needs. We don’t have plans or permission to attend any specific school for MS or HS. As our family is growing we may move into a larger home (remaining in District 1 – an area in which we have established deep and meaningful roots for our family) at some point along the way. I will say that after touring Cross Keys HS, becoming a lifetime member of their Foundation and meeting the amazing children and teachers there, I would be proud to send my children there. I encourage everyone to see the amazing things that go on at Cross Keys and support their Foundation. While I’m at it – I want to say that I was also honored to attend the Blue and Gold Foundation’s Silent Auction recently. (I even bid on and won an item!!) As you know, the Blue and Gold Foundation supports Chamblee Charter HS. I encourage everyone to check out their website’s “Hall of Fame” (http://www.chsblueandgold.org/). After you’re impressed, feel free to donate! Mr./Ms. Insider, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you personally, so please call me at 678.360.1148 (email: nancyjester@gmail.com). I will respect your privacy and certainly keep your identity confidential."
response continued....
I hope that you'll go back and read the remainder of my comment because in it I discussed some important issues regarding the matter of enrollment management that I would like to discuss with you.
In closing you asked, if elected, would I "let that happen" - referring to transferring your child out of an overcrowded school to one that is not. For the record, no school board member “let” my child transfer. School board members are not allowed to interfere with the administration of the district. I would advise you of the options you had and direct you to those staff members who could be of service to you in this regard. As a BOE member, I will work diligently to correct the facility utilization problems we are currently experiencing. Our current board has abdicated this responsibility for far too long. This has monetarily and academically damaged our district. Again, I encourage you to contact me to discuss your concerns further.
--Nancy Jester
678.360.1148
nancyjester@gmail.com
Nancy
What is your position on administrative transfers as they relate to capacity? Start with the goal of getting every child into a classroom rather than a trailer. If a school has a capacity of 1500, but has 2000 students and 100 of those are administrative transfers, do you need to move 500 neighborhood kids or do you need to move 400?
... and Nancy what is your position on:
toilet paper
diesel fuel
20 year shingles...
Let's give her a break. She's one of few willing to actually answer questions.
Anon, she's posted her phone number countless times, call her if you want an answer.
I also hope that every elected school board member will work to relieve the overcrowding in EVERY DeKalb County School. The last redistricting plan did not include every school. Every student has a right to sit in a real classroom. We have enough classrooms, we just need to make use of them.
^^^
That isn't really true. There are plenty of empty seats in some areas and plenty of overcrowding in others, but at the end of the day, with the current facilities we have, the seats just aren't in the right places.
There are certainly some easier fixes. But you can't move kids from one part of the county to another.
I think the pre k classes are causing overcrowding more often than occasionally. Chesnut, Montgomery, vanderlyn and Austin all have trailers and all have pre k classes and in many case multiple pre k classes. Dor each pre k at those schools, dcss has to pay to rent,heat, cool etc a trailer. Getting rid of pre k would eliminate costs as well as the inconvenience of having kids in trailers.
I am voting for on Nov. 2. I do like Reddovian and his ability to work with the boards members in a professional manner and his ability to compromise at times.
I also like the positive attitude of Bobbie Gillis. She is certainly up to speed on the challegnes we face in DeKalb and appears to be looking for solutions.
Jester knows everything. She even wants to do the Supt. job by setting the vision and goals of the system. See what SACS has to say about that! She is all words and I don't think she will be able to work successfully with the 4 board members who are not up for election. A single board member can not accomplish anything in lonesville and that will definately affect our district getting much.
By the way, I don't like yard signs and they definately don't influence my vote.
The Role of School Board
(information excerpted from the NSBA Key Work of School Boards Guidebook)
These are challenging times for public education, and even more challenging is the work of local school board members. Today's local board of education is the leader on the front lines of public education. The board is responsible for putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achieve at the highest level possible. Board members' primary agenda is raising student achievement and involving the community in the attainment of that goal.
In an effort to help local school boards best fulfill their role, the National School Boards Association has articulated the Key Work of School Boards, a framework for raising student achievement through community engagement. It is designed to give school boards concrete action tools to help them be effective in their roles as community leaders. The framework is based on the premise that excellence in the classroom begins with excellence in the boardroom.
VISION
The board envisions the community education future and then formulates the goals, defines the outcomes, and sets the course for its public schools. Vision is not about what we are, but what we want to be. Vision captures a critical dimension of dynamic systems. For school boards, it is about where we are going and what kind of school systems we are trying to create now and for the future.
Closely related to vision is mission. At one level, the mission of an organization is what it is created to do. In effective organizations, the mission statement also captures and reflects the core values and beliefs that guide the organization and its members in pursuit of stated aims and goals.
STANDARDS
Another major component of a systems approach is the establishment of standards for performance. In order to know whether we are performing in accordance with expectations, we need to establish specific and clearly delineated standards. Those standards need to be tied in realistic ways to the expectations of the community.
ASSESSMENT
Promoting outstanding student performance based on clearly delineated standards is central to the key work of school boards. The next step is to determine how well students are doing in meeting those standards. School boards need information in order to make decisions, not only about how well they are doing, but also about what may be needed in order to ensure that system goals will be met.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Increasingly, local school districts are being held accountable for what happens to students and how well they perform on a variety of assessment measures. Local school boards, similarly, are being held accountable for student performance. An example is the Act 60 and NCLB requirements that schools annually report student performance results to the community.
ALIGNMENT
Alignment is another key component of a systems approach to school board leadership. A critical role of the board is to establish high quality standards and system priorities focused on enhancing student achievement. The board is responsible to create the conditions under which excellent teaching and student performance will take place. The next critical step is to align the organization by harnessing the system's resources to the achievement of the system's standards and priorities.
CLIMATE AND CULTURE
Climate is an essential aspect of system culture. Climate is a by-product of culture and is dependent on it. Leading-edge organizations are very conscious of climate because of its powerful effect on behavior. Effective school boards give priority attention to climate as well, because it factors importantly in what students and teachers are able to accomplish. Climate also is a critical determinant of how parents and others in the community view schools.
COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships are an important dimension in effective organizations. We know that when individuals work together effectively, the product of their efforts will almost always be superior to the efforts of any single individual. In the Information Age, relationships are not just important, they are critical. The quality of relationships in an organization will largely determine how well that organization produces.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
The board causes the continuous assessment of all conditions affecting education and ensures that schools are accountable for results in student learning. Boards monitor student achievement, make program corrections as necessary, keep the public informed of the status of education programs and progress, and ensure that all functions of the school work together well
You know something else about Pre-K? Because of how it is funded by the lottery dollars and not the GA DOE, those classrooms are actually considered empty by the state. This complicates our ability to capture state dollars for construction and renovation.
Because so few school systems have pre-ks in their schools, I guess there is no big rush to fix this.
All that said, even with all the school based pre-ks, DeKalb County has the longest waiting list for GA lottery funded pre-ks in the state.
Anon. 5:32. There are only 2 instructional cottages at Montgomery. The music programs are using them. There are only 2 Pre-K classes at the school. That is all they allowed us to have. We had a lottery for the 40 lucky children in our attendance zone.
Like I said, all core subjects are being taught in the main building while the music, band, chorus and orchestra are in the cottages.
For those asking questions about transfers, you may want to read about HB 251, which allows parents to move their child to another school as long as space is available and they provide transportation. Read it at:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/pdf/hb251.pdf
Regarding the "cottages" at Montgomery. Lewis and Mooooseley promised the parents at Nancy Creek that neither Huntley Hills or Montgomery would ever need the additional buildings. I think Huntley Hills has 5 or 6 and Montgomery 2.
However, Kittredge at Nancy Creek is under capacity. I remember some parents asking for a residents/magnate combo at Nancy Creek, like CMS and CCHS has, but were turned down by Clew and Moooosley.
This area continues to grow, even through these tough times.
The KMS parents would have fought that like nobody's business, especially since simultaneously the S. DeKalb high achiever's magnet program was being moved from Brown's Mill to a stand alone facility at Wadsworth.
Way to show up Nancy Jester. I am planning to call you and I hope to place your sign in my yard. No one has all the answers, we should not expect that. However, it is fair to ask a person to show up ( are you listening Jim? ) and you, Nancy have done that.
The " choice " issue, whether for your child or mine is a landmine. Be prepared for that. Magnets are also a political hotbed in our county.
@ 8:12 pm
"Jester knows everything. She even wants to do the Supt. job by setting the vision and goals of the system. See what SACS has to say about that!"
You obviously do not know this, but the Board of Education is REQUIRED to set their own goals for the school system. Right after Lewis was hired as Superintendent by the BOE, there was a big to-do made about how the Superintendent and the Board melded their goals together. Before that, the BOE set goals every year, and the Superintendent set goals every year. Don't we all wish the Board had not abdicated their responsibility of setting their own goals.
Nancy Jester is advocating the BOE doing what they are required to do - set the goals and define the vision of the school system.
We need to judge Jim Redovian on his results:
He supported Lewis every step of the way.
He voted for every change order that Pope/Reid threw her husband's way and left many students in substandard learning environments.
He voted to cut 275 teacher positions and 100 teacher positions from 2008-10.
He voted to cut hundreds of lower paid schoolhouse personnel and retain highly paid ($100,000+) non-teaching positions in 2010.
He voted for every new hire and promotion of the "Friends and Family Plan" of highly placed Central Office and BOE members.
He voted for and has defended the expenditure of tens of millions for ineffective and unsubstantiated scripted learning programs and technology programs.
Student achievement has decreased under Jim Redovian.
Please explain why his performance qualifies Jim Redovian to continue to be a leader in our school system.
Redovian is the reason the Montesorri program is still at Huntley Hills.
This is all moot.
As always, debates like these indicate who is and who isn't reading this blog.
It doesn't matter who holds the District 1 seat if the other seats stay the same.
Frankly, we would be better off if they were all reelected and the governor stepped in and appointed a new board.
Sad, but true.
I thanked Jim for his proposal he made at the end of the September BOE meeting, advocating for the new CCHS. I even figured it was an election year ploy. He took care of his own community with the DHS renovation and as the previous poster said, he helped save the Huntley Hills Montessori Program.
There were several Dunwoody families attending there. Also, it was a parent at Huntley Hills that discovered the bad math of the budget, when Clew said closing the Montessori would save a certain amount of money, it was the parents who actually did the math and revealed that Clew's leaders had made up some numbers and it was after that revelation that Redovian voted to save the program. If I recall it was the parents of Huntley Hills that actually saved the Montessori with their proper addition.
Personally, we need to vote out all incumbents. These folks are partially to blame for the Clew/Pope days and until everyone involved are gone it will be business as usual.
8:18 P.M. You are too angry. Get some help and give some solutions. If the Governor is to appoint school borad members then let him appoint them all and get rid of the entire present Board.
" We need to judge Jim Redovian on his results:
He supported Lewis every step of the way. "
AND, that even cost a person their job and reputation. Two people had the power to stop this particular injustice and chose to let it happen. I often wonder if they ever give this injustice a second thought and wish they had made a different choice.
The DHS Renovation was "on the books" for a SPLOST III renovation long before Redovian took office, so I am not sure why you keep insisting Redovian is taking care of his own? Why do you begrudge Dunwoody HS their renovations?
As I have feared, people are truly blind about what the current school board members have and have not done.
Redovian did nothing to keep the Montessori school in Huntley Hills, no schools were closed this year or changed. NO SCHOOLS!! All of the board members were too afraid to do anything in fear that they would get voted out in the November elections.
Redistricting needs to happen in DCSS. You may not like, but it needs to happen, so that we can right size our schools-those that are over crowded and those that are under enrolled. I would rather have someone who is willing to think through things logically, than someone who is willing to pander to the masses and give them what they want to hear, instead of what needs to be done.
The people of DeKalb need to wake up and see that the current board has allowed the administration to run our district almost into the ground. They are not willing to ask the administration difficult questions and are a huge part of the friends and family program that is hurting our school system.
One point on the test scores - we have increased our failure rate to 44% of schools (from 14%) - hounding teachers all the way -- but promoting Audria Berry to head of student achievement or some such title, increasing her salary from $83,008--$116,314 in the five years under Dr. Lewis' leadership. Something is terribly wrong with that basic picture... hound the teachers - but handsomely reward the administrator and go out and purchase more "programs". That right there is a very big symptom of what is wrong with this system.
I think if we are interested in changing the climate of DCSS schools, it is important to know all board member's stance on issues such as administrative transfers and the ability of central office staff to enroll their out of county children in choice DeKalb schools.
Please Ms Jester and other prospective memebers, respond to this question.
If you attend the forums, they allow the audience to submit questions to the candidates - I would suggest that you all think of some good questions and bring them to the one of the next forums -
Thursday, October 7 @ 6:30pm
Location - DeKalb Medical Center, Central Campus,
2701 North Decatur Road,
Decatur, GA 30033,
Hospital Theatre, Ground Floor, Main Building
Co-sponsors -
DeKalb County League of Women Voters,
The Champion & Free Press and eduKALB
Saturday, October 9 @ 11am
Location - St. Martin's Episcopal Church
Ashford Dunwoody Road
Candidates' Fair
hosted by -
Ashford Alliance Community Association
Thursday, October 21 @ 7pm
Location - Dresden Elementary School
Sponsored by -
The Dresden East Civic Association (DECA)
Tuesday, October 26 @ 7pm
Location - Dunwoody United Methodist Church
1538 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody, GA
Sponsored by -
The Dunwoody Homeowners Association
Thursday, October 28 @ 12pm (noon)
Location - Dunwoody branch of the DeKalb Public Library,
located 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road,
Dunwoody, GA 30338
Bring your lunch - beverages will be provided
Sponsored by -
The Dunwoody Chamblee Parents Council
Looks to me like Donna Edler, Ella Smith, Dr. Nooks, and Nancy Jester would go a long way toward improving Dekalb County Schools. I have attended a number of School Board meetings and the current Board is unbelievably bad. Given this Board's record, all of us in Dekalb County would benefit to vote this Board out.
I wish these four candidates the very best - Dekalb County needs you and voters - we need to make that happen!!
The Montessori decision was not part of the school closing decisions, it was, once again, a cut proposed as a line item on the budget. Redovian certainly did help facilitate the discussions, getting parents the access they needed and indicating he would not vote to cut it.
Our school does not offer band or chorus or orchestra (weird that there would be such different offerings)
And this my friends is part of the huge challenge with redistricting in DeKalb.
We have to fix the disparities before we can really think about moving students.
I know many on this blog disagree, saying that these things can be addressed during redistricting or after, but I trust no one and don't believe for a moment that after years of inequities and discrepancies that the culture of this system will change that quickly.
In Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett, the schools offer a very consistent product. No one can say that DeKalb does that.
This makes redistricting much harder than it should be.
Anon 5:12. Which school does not offer band or orchestra? I'm wondering because those electives have always been offered at Nancy Creek(before closing), Montgomery and Huntley Hills. The Band and Orchestra teachers split their time between two and maybe 3 schools.
Pretty sure chesnut doesn't offer band or orchestra. Or foreign language.
Chesnut is a K-3 school. Band and Orchestra are offered beginning in 4th grade when they get to Dunwoody Elementary. I could be wrong, but I don't think any ES offers band/orchestra prior to the 4th grade.
It is a revelation to me to learn that for some, band and orchestra in 4th or 5th grade is normal.
My elementary, Henderson Mill, shared 6th grade orchestra and band teachers with other schools until 2004, when the 6th grade was moved to the middle school. Since then they have not had band or orchestra. I think Oak Grove is the only elementary in the Lakeside cluster which offers 5th grade band or orchestra -- would current elementary parents jump in and correct me if I'm wrong?
Brockett does not offer band or orchestra. They do have German and chorus.
We have band at Sagamore hIlls Elementary school.
I can hear drums and clarinets in my sleep!
We love our music teacher! Mr. Joe is the best!
Sagamore 7
Livsey offered band and orchestra until Tucker Middle opened and the 6th grade was moved. Unless something has changed in the last year or so, neither is offered at Livsey. When my child attended, there was no foreign language either.
Are you listening to yourselves????
I will say, I DO like this answer from Redovian --
What qualities and skillsets do you believe would be most important in seeking a new Superintendent for DeKalb Schools?
A proven administrator capable of running a billion dollar company. A person with a vision and a passion to make it work. A new fresh individual without previous ties to DeKalb.
September 29, 2010 3:21 PM
Anonymous said...
Hear! Hear! An outsider! Exactly the first quality for a new superintendent.
Jim Redovian had a principal in his own school, Dunwoody High School, who was an outsider. He (principal) cleaned up the school, met AYP in his second year, demanded excellence and did not tolerate foolishness from students and central office (Clew & Pope)However, Redovian, Pam Tallmage and Co... got rid of him. The parents and board members cannot continue to collaboratively make personnel decisions... They sound like Michelle Rhee... Waiting for Superman? Newsflash... there are far more good teachers than bad teachers. Ineffective leaders hid behind the one or two bad teachers in every school and then cry help from Oprah and Bill Gates as if they are "Superfriends" None of these people never met Superman and they are afraid of good teachers and leaders, so it is hard to imagine that s/he (Superman) will show up to save education. Besides, there is a Cryptonite Factory located at 1701 Mtn. Ind. Rd. called the MIC that will kill Superman instantly. The fact is, they will fire Superman if s/he is crazy enough to scrap the meta-narratives of this bogus system. Be ware outsiders... it is not about education in dekalb, it's my way or the highway. Redovian and Company can't stomach a smart walk the talk principal, so there is no way he will be able to handle an outside Supt. who is interested in doing educational business which requires systemic thinking, planning, and operating. Don't try to tarnish the next person like you did your past principal who made substantial measurable gains. You cannot measure opinions from Tallmage & Co. as your base. Be ware of false allegations, and continued nepotism... Of all things Tyson & Co. call themselves addressing with SACS. Speaking of nepotism, Swanson and Redovian have a long working relationship from DSA. Thanks for telling us that you look to retire from DHS Swanson. Here is the last Newsflash... whenever school administartors engage in doing the board's work (Board Policy) and serve as the primary architects of the responses to SACS' questions, the inmates (admin. Tyson, Moseley, Berry... all them) are running the asylum.
The Board's role is to write and adopt policies and hold the Supt. accountable for adhering to the polices. Not the opposite. Good luck spinning this one SACS.
This school system needs a "New Birth"... go figure.
Happy searching...
Are you listening to yourselves????
I will say, I DO like this answer from Redovian --
What qualities and skillsets do you believe would be most important in seeking a new Superintendent for DeKalb Schools?
A proven administrator capable of running a billion dollar company. A person with a vision and a passion to make it work. A new fresh individual without previous ties to DeKalb.
September 29, 2010 3:21 PM
Anonymous said...
Hear! Hear! An outsider! Exactly the first quality for a new superintendent.
Jim Redovian had a principal in his own school, Dunwoody High School, who was an outsider. He (principal) cleaned up the school, met AYP in his second year, demanded excellence and did not tolerate foolishness from students and central office (Clew & Pope)However, Redovian, Pam Tallmage and Co... got rid of him. The parents and board members cannot continue to collaboratively make personnel decisions... They sound like Michelle Rhee... Waiting for Superman? Newsflash... there are far more good teachers than bad teachers. Ineffective leaders hid behind the one or two bad teachers in every school and then cry help from Oprah and Bill Gates as if they are "Superfriends" None of these people never met Superman and they are afraid of good teachers and leaders, so it is hard to imagine that s/he (Superman) will show up to save education. Besides, there is a Cryptonite Factory located at 1701 Mtn. Ind. Rd. called the MIC that will kill Superman instantly. The fact is, they will fire Superman if s/he is crazy enough to scrap the meta-narratives of this bogus system. Be ware outsiders... it is not about education in dekalb, it's my way or the highway. Redovian and Company can't stomach a smart walk the talk principal, so there is no way he will be able to handle an outside Supt. who is interested in doing educational business which requires systemic thinking, planning, and operating. Don't try to tarnish the next person like you did your past principal who made substantial measurable gains. You cannot measure opinions from Tallmage & Co. as your base. Be ware of false allegations, and continued nepotism... Of all things Tyson & Co. call themselves addressing with SACS. Speaking of nepotism, Swanson and Redovian have a long working relationship from DSA. Thanks for telling us that you look to retire from DHS Swanson. Here is the last Newsflash... whenever school administartors engage in doing the board's work (Board Policy) and serve as the primary architects of the responses to SACS' questions, the inmates (admin. Tyson, Moseley, Berry... all them) are running the asylum.
The Board's role is to write and adopt policies and hold the Supt. accountable for adhering to the polices. Not the opposite. Good luck spinning this one SACS.
This school system needs a "New Birth"... go figure.
Happy searching...
You know what, that isn't true about the principal at Dunwoody. I don't want to besmearch the man's reputation because the internet keeps things forever, but gotta tell you that he did things that were inappropriate and that is why he is gone.
He might not have had the maturity to understand this, but the evidence was (is) there and it had nothing to do with any powerful anybody.
It was nobody parents, nobody students and teachers who had the issues.
Anoymous 10:22, there were reasons Dr. Harris was removed from DHS and the reason he is no longer employed by DCSS - legal reasons. It's obvious you don't know the "real story" here.
Dunwoody Mom, You are correct, Band and Orchestra is offered to 4th and 5th graders at Montgomery, Huntley Hills and other ES.
However, I am pretty sure chorus is open to 3rd graders at Montgomery and our music teachers do go to lower school classes to introduce music to the students.
However, it's up to the Principals at each school how they want to utilize their points for teachers.
Zepora Roberts is running on her record? That's akin to Bill Campbell running for elected office again on his record!
Our freaking superintendent and COO are under RICO indictment!! Test scores are dropping, system enrollment is dropping, millions are wasted, the non-teaching staff is ineffective and bloated beyond belief, too many schools have leaky roofs, moldy air conditioning and endless trailers, etc., etc.
Feel free to run on your record, ZR. Even people who voted for you in the past have to see that your one of the leaders of a sinking ship, and you were helping to steer.
Briarlake does not have any band, orchestra, chorus or foreign language classes last I heard.
C Lew news:
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/ex-dekalb-schools-chief-648452.html
"Ex-DeKalb schools chief may lose his lawyer"
I really hope eduKalb can get this online for all those who can't make it!!
eduKALB:
On Thursday, October 7th, at 6:30 p.m. we will be hosting our final forum, in cooperation with the League of Women Voters of DeKalb County, Leadership DeKalb, the Junior League of DeKalb County and The Champion and Free Press at the main campus of DeKalb Medical Center.
The forum will take place in the hospital theater, on the ground floor.
Questions will come from the public, as well as the forum moderators. The final forum is also being videotaped for later webcast and possibly broadcast on eduKALB's YouTube channel, website and Facebook page. The majority of incumbent and challenger candidates from all five districts (#1, 3, 5, 7 & 9) up for election on November 2 are expected to participate.
DeKalb Medical Center, Central Campus
2701 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA 30033
Hospital Theatre, Ground Floor, Main Building
@ Anon Sept 29, 9:16p.m.
Don't forget to add this to Redovian's record: during budget cuts, he lead the fight to keep the 7 period day teachers teaching 5 periods instead of 6 which impacted 4 high schools (2 north: Lakeside and Chamblee; 2 south: MLK and Arabia if details matter)- the difference between 170 students (which is still too many) and 204 students; 100 minutes of planning (if they aren't assigned another job during 1 planning which most are) and 50 mins. of planning - a direct positive impact on student learning and teacher support!!
He's the only BOE member to publicly acknowledge that we are right: all this is the BOE's fault and has proceeded to act on it. Some examples: not voting for Beasley, not voting for the 7000 employee contract stating that there are some that shouldn't be approved, asking for a list of central office staff that get administrative transfers for their children, requesting Ms. Tyson contact SACS prior to fast tracking any policies, etc. Are all votes perfect? No, but there's progress and we probably wouldn't get it all right either. It's hard to own up to mistakes, esp. publicly, so I respect him for that and am glad the rose colored glasses have come off!
Are you listening to yourselves on this blog? You denounce administrative transfers - say to send them all home - but now it's ok for Nancy Jester to do it? Will you grant her "entitlement" (a privilege that you deplore in other BOE members) if she becomes a BOE member and let her keep her children on administrative transfer or do you expect her to follow the rules like the rest of us? Will you stab her in the back when her one vote out of 9 can't make her campaign goals come true or when she makes the first "wrong" vote in your opinion?
You told the BOE to listen, to make changes and when they have, you still criticize them. What gives?
Anon 2:00 pm. If CLew loses his lawyer, Mr Bowen will find a way to approve DCSS money to hire a new one for him.
I wonder who selected Alston&Bird as the attorneys in the construction suit and who is the law firm billing partner that gets credit for the fees paid by DCSS to the law firm.
@ Anonymous 2:32 pm
"You told the BOE to listen, to make changes and when they have, you still criticize them. What gives? "
I know you didn't say that. This BOE has made no changes.
The DeKalb District Attorney had to bring Dr. Lewis and Pat Pope/Reid up on racketeering charges before they would let Lewis or Pope/Reid go.
SACs has had to launch an investigation into DeKalb's administration and BOE policies and ethics before anyone addressed these.
Academic progress has steadily gone down and by all accounts we'll be lucky if we have even one high school that will make AYP next year.
None of these BOE members have any credibility. If they had an ounce of respect for DeKalb students, they would all resign and let some competent candidates run for school board.
I think the transfer issue has to do with transfers causing over-crowding - Hawthorne, where Jester's children attend, is under-enrolled. (447 enrolled, with capacity for 450 - so there's still room for anyone else who would like to transfer from say, Oak Grove - with 657 students and capacity for only 475 - or Dresden with 835 students and capacity for only 700. In fact, Briarlake has seats available - with only 436 students and room for 450!) It's about balancing - and not allowing transfers to force a school to become over-crowded.
I'm not in Jim Redovian's district, but I donated to his opponent. I've never met Mr. Redovian so I hold no animosity towards hem. What I go by is results. Our student achievement scores are down, our expenditures are up, and our scandals are many.
I'm tired of seeing DeKalb on the front pages of the newspaper and on the TV news, not because of student progress, but because of scandals and failure.
If Jim Redovian and the rest of the BOE are not responsible, who is responsible? All BOE members need to step and be accountable for the awful mess DCSS has become. Accountablity does not mean continuing "business as usual".
Anon 232,
What about giving CLew a payraise earlier this year? Was he looking out for the teachers then? Do you think Mr. R's recent votes would have been the same if he wasn't challenged for election? Do you think Nancy Jester wouldn't stand by teachers and students? It seems to me that she has made the point that we should pay our teachers more and get the money to the schools. She's a parent - how novel for a BOE member!
Cerebration, why did you delete my post about Sandy Spruill? It was not defamatory at all.
You'll allow a whole entire thread about a sex scandal at a church. You will allow gossip about Audria Berry and Dr. Lewis, but you delete a truth statement about someone causing trouble in her own community?
Wow..........
I allow public comment about public news and public people who are paid with public funds and who the public is allowed to criticize if they are not happy with the job they are doing. I do not allow comments - or personal opinions - about private people no matter who they are. I've deleted several this week.
(BTW, FWIW, I have no idea who Sandy is - wouldn't know her if I saw her on the street.)
The administrative transfers issue on this blog and the "hatred" for them has nothing to do with space. I have not seen that if there is space -people would be o.k. with them. But more so - the central office or "palace" personnel should not be "allowed" to do it at all. I don't really see the problem if there is not overcrowding; but it doesn't seem like people are open to it period. Even with the inequities -there is a movement to keep what is mine-mine.
Anon 7:04 -
You're right about the depth of feelings about administrative transfers, but I suspect the feelings are coming from people with kids in over enrolled schools rather than people with kids in schools that are OK. Possibly there haven't even been posts from those parents because they feel neutral on the subject - it isn't affecting their child.
As a parent of a child who has had to negotiate hallways so crowded it is like salmon swimming upstream, a child whose school does not physically have enough lockers for every student, so they have to share, a child whose school has to have four different lunch periods and even then has to have kids eat outside the cafeteria, I am extremely irritated that there are kids there because they know someone who knows someone.
Anon 704,
The "what's mine is mine" mentality is part of what has gotten us in the problem. Hello - redistricting. I wish we'd leave Jester's children out of this. She's not an insider and she goes to a school that is a choice school for a large number of its attendees. So what. She's involved. I think we should be happy a parent stepped up. If we had a BOE that hadn't neglected redistricting for so long and let enrollment get out of control, we wouldn't have so much of the "mine-mine" mentality.
I have to say that everyone on here is acting like we haven't had board members with children in the system. Let's see on the current board. Jay Cunningham has a child in a DeKalb school.
Previous boards, off the top of my head, Cassandra Anderson-Littlejohn, Chip Franzoni, Simone Manning Moon all served on the board within the last 6 years.
My perspective is different from many of you. As a long time observed of DCSS, I see that it is often difficult, and occasionally impossible for board members to put aside their loyalty for their children's schools to make decisions for the betterment of the system, or in some cases their districts.
I am not saying that being a parent is a total negative, but it isn't the panacea that many of you think it is.
@ 741pm
Jay Cunningham no longer has a child in school in DeKalb. Being a parent is no panacea to be sure. But it very irritating that they are so disconnected.
Not one current BO member has a child in the DeKalb School System. Quite a few have children employed by the DeKalb School System - most of them in highly paid non-teaching positions.
I feel strongly we need diversity on the school board.
Why do we not have a diversity of individuals of different ages and at least 40% or 50% of the board members with children who attend the school system? I see this as a problem in itself. There is not a good representation of members of our community. You should not have to be retired to be on the board.
I am supported of retired individuals being part of the diversity of the school board. However, the majority of our school board is of retirement age. I do not feel this is the representation of Dekalb County.
I think changes need to be made back to the way they were years ago and like they are at different counties where board meeting start in the afternoon. The schedule of the board is based on the majority of the board being retired and this prevent young individuals with full-time jobs from running.
I can saw this because I could retire if I wanted to now. I have observed the need for diversity for younger members on the school board. You should not have to be retired to be a school board member part-time. It is a problem when our school board members try to get too involved and make the school board their full time job and try to run the day-to-day operations of the school system.
We do have some younger candidates with children in the school system running who do have full-time jobs. I think this would be a good change and would add some diversity to the school board.
I can say this instead of saw this. Well, I actually saw that there appears to be many retired citizens on the school board.
You do need to get out and hear from some of these excellent young candidates with children in the schools. I have been very impressed. These young educated individuals with new visions for the Dekalb County School System is what we need.
I am not indicating we do not have some good retired school board members. We do have some good retired school board members. However, I am indicating we need diversity on our school board in age, in sex, in race and we a high percent of school board members with children who attend the Dekalb County School System. Parents are important stakeholders and need to be represented on the Dekalb County School Board.
"School board members are not allowed to interfere with the administration of the district."
Really?
Really.
How strange.
My neighborhood is full of stories of how a school board member "cut through the red tape" for them to get their kid into a top school. Note "cut through red tape" is code for get my kid into a magnet despite not having this or that required thing. Or they simply did not wish to stand in line behind all those other kids. Those "other kids" usually have less $ , fewer connections and darker skin then you find my in my hood. And, sure enough..little kiddo went to the head of the line. Know of several of these stories. Kids are now in "top school" .
So, if the board is not supposed to involve themselves in such things, where did all these stories (told with pride, by the way, by the parents of these tots), come from.
@ Anonymous 9/30 7:04PM
"The administrative transfers issue ...But more so - the central office or "palace" personnel should not be "allowed" to do it at all."
I agree and I would bet that if the central office personnel could not do administrative transfers, they would step up and do something to improve the conditions and quality of education at their home schools (assuming they don't opt for private schools).
Administrative transfers for children are okay if you like a BOE candidate, but not okay for Central Office staff?
Can't have it both ways.
Oh, and that excuse that well, our conversation was around transferring into overcrowded schools - that was never part of the conversation until it was revealed that Nancy Jester's children go to an out of district school.
Oh please...Jester's kids don't go to a "top" school. It's a school of choice for a large number of the kids that go there. Seems like she's a very active parent and doing good things. It's really funny because if this is the only thing you have to say about Jester as a candidate, you must be desperate. She's smart and has ideas.
Then why doesn't Jester state her opinion on admin transfers clearly instead of "call me"? I was totally in her camp until this issue has continued to sit on her doorstep. Her lack of a clear response to me suggests that she might be supportive of "business as usual" regarding these transfers. Nancy, clear this up or you have lost my vote!
Time and again on this blog, the needs of Dresden have been mentioned. I don't know Nancy Jester and can't vote for her but if she is as good as bloggers say, wouldn't her skills have been a great gift to Dresden if she had chosen to use them in her neighborhood school? She could have been the Kim Gokce for Dresden!
In response to an earlier poster, I suspect the concern is once a parent gets a child in an elementary feeder (which may not be overcrowded), they use the "but my child has been with these friends for 6 years" excuse to get permission to go to an out of district middle school and on to that feeder high school...which in the Jesters case would be Henderson Middle (overcrowded, largest middle school in the county) and Lakeside (overcrowded, largest high school in the county).
I do not know Nancy Jester, but I believe that you are blowing things way out of proportion. What Ms. Jester did by requesting that her children attend a school of choice, rather than have her kids attend an over crowded school, is something, that ANY parent whose children would attend an over crowded school can do. She is not receiving special privileges or working the system illegally.
I believe that you need an education or to do your homework on the type of transfers that children can receive that are above board and those transfers that keep the friends and family train in motion in DCSS.
Having done my homework on the candidates in Jester's race, in my opinion she is the one whom I would vote for if I lived in that district. She is articulate and does her homework. I can see her not being afraid to ask tough questions, the tough questions that our current board is unwilling to ask right now. I feel that with more questions from our board members that DCSS would not find itself in the mess that we find ourselves in now.
Anon 757,
I composed a response to the earlier question about transfers but didn’t post it out of respect for the blog. There are terrific conversations and exchanges on this blog and I don’t want to use it as a campaign tool. As you’ve asked the question again here, I’ll give you my response. I do encourage anyone with direct questions for me to email me at nancyjester@gmail.com or call me 678.360.1148. I’ll also be at “Coffee Talk” tonight at White Windmill Bakery at 7pm so feel free to stop by.
Here’s what I had previously composed:
Anon 606pm,
The issue you present sounds like the ones the School Closing Task Force grappled with last school year. I’ve heard members discuss this scenario and ponder all the implications. This is a complicated matter and I try to always remember that what we discuss and the plans we implement impact children. We should be careful not to think of them as a group of numbers, impersonally represented on a spreadsheet. Children shoulder the outcomes of our decisions academically and socially.
Unfortunately our BOE has let the problems of enrollment management fester along with the erosion of academics within our system. We know that the district must close schools in order to optimize our state funding. I think we should first start redistricting with consideration of geographic proximity and consider certain types of transfers secondarily. With admin transfers, I would want to know the obligations that exist contractually. Do we know/believe that transfers are all coded correctly in our system? What type of risks do we have with the veracity of the data? Overall, the redistricting discussion will be a long one and will require a lot of community input. These are not decisions to take lightly.
Additionally, I want to stay focused on the important matters of reform that are needed in DeKalb. We have had a culture of dysfunction and distractions for far too long. We have seen groups and communities pitted against each other as they compete for the limited resources that our leadership has left over after spending your tax dollars unwisely and without proper safeguards. I encourage everyone to consider the proposals for budget reform and teacher/principal/school empowerment for which I advocate.
Thanks!
--Nancy Jester
@809,
She already addressed feeder schools in a comment. She can benefit Dresden and so many other schools by being on the BOE. Have you considered that! Isn't it the BOE's fault for letting Dresden fall into the sad shape it is in? This is not Jester's fault. I say let her clean it up on the BOE. She's got my vote.
The problem is Nancy that if redistricting is going to occur and children who have administrative transfers get to stay while neighborhood children are moved, there seems something inherently wrong there to me.
I understand that AYP transfers get to stay until the highest grade, but at one DCSS neighborhood elementary school, there are no AYP transfers but 100 or so administrative transfers. Ironically, 100 is about the number that the school is overcrowded.
You are all about the big picture and I commend you for that, but for most parents in DeKalb this is much more personal than the big picture.
Yes Anon 8:32 that is exactly the concern. The plea that my children have been with these children all of elementary school...now they go to the crowded middle and high, while children living in the neigborhood are moved to another school.
NO admin transfers for overcrowded schools. Give every admin transfer student notice at winter break they need to plan to return to their home school next year.
So to clarify Nancy's response, you will not ask for an admin transfer for your children to go to Henderson and Lakeside? Transparent?
Just my two cents with regards to Administrative Transfers - you either have them or you don't. When you get into a discussion of allowing them, but only to a school that has room - use the HB251 option. Otherwise you will have the mess we have now.
I know a parent who tried to get her child out of a poor-performing school into an elementary school closer to her work in DCSS. She was told flat out NO. I also know a parent who got a transfer because her child's school was deemed "unsafe". Not really fair, is it?
-No admin transfers for Central Office and non-teaching staff. You go to your area's school and that's that.
-Teachers and staff that do not live in DeKalb County can not send their children to a DCSS school. That is an unacceptable $10,000 per year perk for people who are not paying county property taxes, plus, we already have overcrowded schools.
I'm all for allowing a DeKalb resident teacher to be able to bring her/his child to the school she/he is teaching at. But that's it, no feeder school nonsense.
A transparent, open, responsible BOE and Superintendent would post info. to the public annually on admin transfers. No one needs to know individuals' names and who goes where, but we should have data on how many total, per school, the reasons why an AT was granted, etc., etc.
Please Nancy Jester, Ella, etc. if you are elected, please make this change (but only after you help downsize the massive Central Office bureaucracy and completely eliminate the Office of School Improvement).
Although people have left comments on this blog stating that there should be no transfers, this is not the "official" stance of "the blog" so please don't assume it as such. You can't pick and choose random comments and assign them as the "opinion of the blog"... We have a variety of opinions stated here - as this is a forum - a place for conversation - open to all perspectives and all who care about our schools.
That said, I am the moderator of this blog, and if you assign "blog opinion" to the moderator, then I will say that my opinion regarding transfers is as follows:
- We need to remove the transfer numbers from the total as we look to redraw attendance lines (I am NOT saying remove the students - just know the number who are attending a school from out of district). This is because we cannot possibly know if a school is over-crowded due to the attendance zone being too large or due to too many transfers unless we separate those numbers. Therefore, yes, I do agree that we cannot expect attendance zone students to accept being sent to another school when their school is over-crowded due to transfers. We can't count on those transfer numbers remaining stable in the future.
- No - I do NOT think that administrators, board members or anyone else in the inner circle should be allowed to get a special administrative (ie: superintendent's) transfer for their child, niece, nephew, grandchild... Administrative transfers should be few and far between and for a very specific list of reasons - to be approved by a small committee. (The super should NOT have the power to hand out these favors.) I would think that the potential for favoritism in this situation would be obvious
- I have no issue with Nancy Jester's transfers. She transferred FROM an over-crowded school TO an under-enrolled school. She used a legal method (HB251) available to anyone. She would advocate and help anyone else do the same. Now, IF she had gotten a special transfer into very much over-crowded Oak Grove - I would have a problem. But HB251 is not set up that way - that would be a "special admin transfer"...
- And AYP transfers are legally mandated by the federal government. We HAVE to install trailers to accommodate the overflow if necessary. This pain to the receiving school SHOULD serve to point out the inequities among schools, forcing the school system to address the issues in the "failing" schools. Tutoring is an option in this situation that is not being utilized as it could. Also, using Title 1 funds to hire in-school support like reading and math specialists to work with struggling students is an option that is not being utilized as it could (we buy programs and hire supervisors over teachers).
So - as far as the "opinion" of the "blog" goes - we have many expressed here. As moderator of the blog - the above is strictly mine... and we all know what "they" say about opinions!
@ Cerebration
I agree. I have absolutely no problem with parents in an overcrowded school going through the legal means of transferring to a school that is under enrolled either, especially if it will help that school have the numbers necessary to obtain state funding.
Nancy is totally on point. DeKalb will need to have abundant community input on redistricting and school closings. Please name any DCSS initiative to date that has had true, thorough community input.
Nancy is totally on point. DeKalb will need to have abundant community input on redistricting and school closings
Input from the community? Most definitely. However, the community input should be one part of the discussion and can be no more important that the Demographic study and what ever information is provided. Please remember that it was "community support" that caused a 4/5 school in Dunwoody rather than redistricting and a K-5 school.
"And this my friends is part of the huge challenge with redistricting in DeKalb.
We have to fix the disparities before we can really think about moving students."
I think that this comment cuts to heart of the redistricting discussion. I think that the school system could fix this problem as a part of the redistricting process. The school system will have to make sure that there are teachers at every school who can provide the pe, music, art, and foreign language instruction that families in the county want. Community members need to speak up.
Unfortunately, it is more than instruction that varies so tremendously in DeKalb. You have PTAs that raise 60,000 dollars a year while a neighboring school may raise 20,000. That money buys all kinds of resources and experiences that make a difference in a child's schooling. There are schools in DeKalb where the PTAs have purchased promethean boards for every classroom.
This makes things tricky as well.
This is probably not feasible, but perhaps the solution to our PreK program situation is to set up PreK centers. Group all of the classes from several nearby schools together either in a separate facility, such as a closed school, or in a wing of a school that has a lot of extra space.
I think that the school system could fix this problem as a part of the redistricting process. The school system will have to make sure that there are teachers at every school who can provide the pe, music, art, and foreign language instruction that families in the county want. Community members need to speak up.
That was with the task force was trying to do last spring - consolidating schools so that the students could be eligible for music, art, etc. and still many in the communities of the smaller schools, and their BOE reps, did not want their schools closed - even if sending their children to larger schools offered them more academic options.
Pre K costs the district money and we should get out of the business of Pre-K, like the other school districts in our area.
I do not want to open a can of worms here. At our Elementary school we have 2 teachers who live outside the county, one in Cherokee, and their kids are able to attend our school. I fear we would lose these teachers if their kids had to attend their own county school since she would have to work out daycare and after school transportation, since she is 32 miles from her home.
Next year, it will no longer be a choice for her since her child will be headed to 6th grade and he will have to attend his home county school since, his mom will continue to teach at our Elementary school.
So we need to look at all the possibilities here to be able to keep the good teachers.
Actually, I do agree with that one. I think it's reasonable to allow teachers to bring their children to the school they teach at. Especially in elementary school -- It's the least we can do to alleviate their stress in the morning and help them get to work on time without worrying about all kinds of transportation. Plus - they can easily attend their own child's events and would be active members of the school.
So, easing the stress of the teachers is ok for out of district students (which i agree with). But that is the only employee in the school district that puts in 10 hour days that needs their stress relieved? Some folks work until 6:00 p.m. very hard for this district - is it not feasible to ask that they have a school close to their workplace as well?
Just wondering???
Remember that for every child that a non-county resident DCSS administrator, staffer or yes, even a teacher, brings to a DCSS school, that's a de facto $10,000 bonus, subsidized by our county taxpayers.
When your school system was just facing a $100 million dollar budget deficit, that's untenable and unsustainable.
If we are going to allow that, those non-county residents should have to pay the system some to be determined amount.
If push comes to shove, and we should keep that incredible perk only for teachers, we should definitely not allow it for administrators and staff. Sorry, but we have to make hard choices, and administrators and non in-staff are secondary to our teachers. A distant second.
Teachers bringing their children to their school is, I believe, a state rule.
I get tired of hearing the pity story of teachers having to find day care and such for their children-what do teachers think regular parents have to do? Regular parents make a choice about where they work and live. They can't bring their children to work because it's more convenient for them.
Also, once a child goes to school in our county, it's tough to get them out. There are teachers whose children go to DCSS schools that their parents do not work in, so don't be so sure that the teachers' children will be going back to their home county.
This is one state rule that needs to be over turned. This wouldn't happen up North. Your child goes where you live or they go to private school or you pay tuition.
I am a teacher whose child goes to school with her. I also have a child who managed to continue in the feeder pattern before they decided to end that "perk."
I took my job in the school I'm in and in Dekalb County because of that professional courtesy. I teach a very difficult area of Special Education that is hard to find teachers in. I do live in the county.
Other counties offer this courtesy to teachers. I have heard that in Gwinnett you can send your child to any school if you are a teacher.
This is a perk given partly because teachers are expected to stay long hours, many that you aren't even paid for. If your kids are there you are available to work. The door swings both ways and the school also benefits. Teachers are definitely more invested in a school where their family is attending.
I was furious when they told me that my younger daughter would have to return to her home school and could not continue in the feeder pattern next year, even more mad than when they gave me furlough days and stopped my step increases and contributions. I know times are hard for educators but this may create more challenges for the county to retain and attract good teachers.
I mean, really, people are sitting in $2000 chairs at county, sending their kids wherever they want and people are pointing to a handful of teachers kids as the cause of overcrowding and out of control costs...
"I get tired of hearing the pity story of teachers having to find day care and such for their children-what do teachers think regular parents have to do? "
This is a very real problem for teachers. If your commute to school is 45 minutes to an hour and you must be at school at 7:00 AM, you will have a hard time finding a daycare provider that is open early enough for you to make it to work on time. Parents of preschool children can choose a daycare near where they work, but once a child becomes school age you have to find a facility that will transport your child to your neighborhood school. That is where travel time and daycare hours become an issue. This doesn't even take into account the evening meetings and leaving school late because of conference days or long after-school meetings. I've seen good teachers quit because they can't deal with the stress.
My children have been in the Tucker cluster for years and besides the administrative transfers and AYP students coming into our schools is the number of people with affidavits
Affidavits are from parents stating that I am living with some relative or friend that lives in this school district. It's a joke to the registrars when these people come in. Of course, you must be polite and cannot call them out for it.
I wish our board and the county office would appoint staff at each school to research affidavits. We need to hold these parents accountable to see if they are telling the truth and press charges. If the system would start putting teeth into enforcing the law, people may STOP!
This would put students back in their home schools and then we could find out where kids actually go to school. I would like to know if it could be published how many students are at each school under an affidavit.
Commuting is part of working. Having night meetings (which teachers don't have very many of and usually know about them well in advance) is part of working.
Teachers want to be called professionals, well start acting like it. Other parents who work have the same issues of child care, meetings at night, sick kids, long commutes, etc. Parents don't want to hear teachers complaining about what a normal person deals with, especially with the many vacation days that a teacher has during the year. I know that some teachers work more than 40 hours, do professional develop, yadda yadda yadda, during the vacations, but come on now this is a nice luxury that teachers who are parents have this extra time with their children, that other professions do not.
Teachers, stop your whining. Every parent and worker has to deal with these things-you are not alone, so stop playing the martyr.
"Teachers, stop your whining. Every parent and worker has to deal with these things-you are not alone, so stop playing the martyr."
Who said teachers are whining. This is a reality. Some people can work with it others choose not to. Enrolling your child at the school where you work is something that helps the teacher stay on the job. Why are you so angry?
It also helps attract the best teachers and keep them. Many corporations have realized this and offer all kinds of childcare perks - it actually makes for happier employees who remain loyal to the company.
The state legislature made the law that teachers could take their children to the school they teach at many years ago because it is a problem with teachers when school systems are on different schedules, football games, and extra-curriular activites. Many teachers are active in these after school activities and it allows this when the teacher and children go to the same school. It causes all kinds of issues when the teachers and students are in different schools and in different systems sometimes.
The problem came in when principals looked the other way and allowed the teachers to take their children to feeder schools as this is not the law.
However, allowing teachers and administrators children to attend feeder schools is common practice in Fulton County. Fulton County also does not send students around the county very much to other schools due to AYP so the overcrowding is not an issue.
I am concerned with many of the administrative transfers I have seen in the Dekalb County Schools. Students get in trouble and get a bad name in one school and have major behavior issues and are allow to transfer to another school.
Personally, I had my rotator cup torn and it took about a year of treatment and therapy for recovery due to a student who was dangerous being tranfer from one school in DeKalb to another school in DeKalb to give him a fresh break. He was under house arest. My should hurts me every morning of my life so I remember all too well about what happens when the very top brass are friend of the family and are making an administrator transfer to try to protect the student's image.
The last time I ran for election I ran into someone who told me this same student as an adult had shot up a town in Ohio and was in jail. However, instead of placing the child in the right placement to allow the student the emotional support needed this student was administratively transferred by the top brass of Dekalb to give this child another opportunity. This is when this child attacked me as a teacher as I was walking down the hall to take this child to the office due to misbehavior.
I had no idea of the issues of this student. I had no idea this child had a violent history and was under house arrest. The law required I know about this as this child's teacher. Administrators should not be allowed to make administrative transfers without a due process procedure in place that protects all individuals. If a school is already too crowded then an administrative transfer should not be allowed. Transferring violent students from school to school also is not a good idea. These students instead should be placed appropriately in a facility to get the support they need. At a minimum the faculty working with the students need to be aware of what the students has done in the past which is required by law. The teachers need to know this to protect other students and themselves.
Steen Miles is just an arrogant as Zepora. They both have the same personality types. "Rude" That is probally why she is not on television reporting anymore. Thank goodness! Ms. Miles is a hot mess. And she will try to embarrass you if she has a full house.
"I wish our board and the county office would appoint staff at each school to research affidavits. We need to hold these parents accountable to see if they are telling the truth and press charges. If the system would start putting teeth into enforcing the law, people may STOP!"
We have a 200 person police department with two chiefs and nine detectives, plus an Internal Affairs Office (even though its head is out of the office for over two months of the year as a state senator who actually called for an economic boycott of Dunwoody).
We have the resources to investigate affadavits and residency issues. The Fulton Co. school system and City of Decatur Schools are very tough on this.
But at DCSS, heck, it's money Title 1 money. Who cares if it leads to overcrowding. Who cares if county taxpayers are paying $10,000 per student for children who do not live in the couty.
It's not just Title 1 schools where the phony affidavits and fraudulent proof of residence is overlooked. As a (very) low level employee of DCSS, I became aware of this stuff at a magnet school that everyone wants to get their kid into, but when I brought the information to administration, I was told to just let it go, and nothing was dome.
Folks, teachers are not whining. They should be allowed to let their kids attend the schools that they are working in and then the feeder schools that are close by.
This is a perk to keep the good teachers. If the DCSS leadership, at the Palace, is allowed to let their kids attend the schools they want, why not give the teachers a little perk like this?
It can't be that many kids either! I'd love to know the number. This perk does not cost us as much as sending the Palace staff to Las Vegas for a week of "America's Choice" training or Reynold's Plantation and the Bahamas for Superintendent training . In this time of terrible pay and furlough days, why not give the teachers a reason to stay in the system?
8:54 It's a little perk that costs the district. We need to pull the plug on this perk across the board. Follow the state law, but that is it.
Little perks here and there cost tax payers money. Money is misspent all over DCSS, and as a tax payer, I have had enough.
I want people in positions that they are qualified for with salaries that are reasonable. I want to stop the trips that don't benefit our children. Administrators going to conferences do not benefit our children. We need to ensure that construction projects are handled properly the first time, and go after those that do sub par work. We need to stop the perks of some kids getting into schools that are very desirable, because their parent works for the district in any capacity, whines or complains loudly, or knows someone who works for the district.
Is anyone addressing the major burglary/larceny spree that's happening at the schools? Over $300,000 in stolen tech gear so far. The culprit seems to know where the security cameras are and has a key to the metal cabinets that house the mobile labs. Why isn't the press as well as DeKalb County Police talking about this? WSB covered a theft a a school in Paulding but does not cover this. Will someone shine some light on this crime spree.
Thanks for bringing up the Tucker cluster. Ask for the list of kids who are out of area and you will be surprised. There are so many out of area, one problem is they let all elementary kids come automatically and don't even check if they were on special permission while they were in the elementary school. All you have to do is ask the registrars at the elementary schools for their out of area list or administrative transfer list and then don't let them in. Can't the registrars communicate with one another? Once they let them in, then they are stuck. The person (s) registering kids needs to tighten up. The affidavit situation is hilarious. Ask for that list too, let's see if the percentage of affidavits is higher at Tucker than in other areas which have a socio economic status. I bet it is higher. Then you are also stuck with them until the highest grade. Speaking of Tucker Middle right now. Back to affidavits, a person is struggling and has to live with someone, can't afford to join PTA,but their child has $100 tennis shoes and an $150 ipod in school. It makes no sense. Used to have a big problem with all of these out of area"kids hanging out after school until they were picked up-Good job to the principal for rounding them up and putting them in the after school program for a fee! This way, you will give back to the school that you lied to attend.
Weren't those two twin girls who murdered their mother last year transfer students from Conyers into Tucker HS?
They were living with the grandmother up until a few weeks before the mother was murdered. I am certain no one reported that they had moved back to Rockdale.
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